Vertical index cabinet



Sept. 12, 1933. B. AAG-AARD 1,926,023

VERTICAL INDEX CABINET Filed Dec. 23, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l SNK ATTORNEY Sept. 12, 1933. BQAAGAARD VERTICAL INDEX CABINET Filed Deo. 23. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvENToR m/ f f' ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 12, 1933 UNHTED STATES @FFICE Application December 23, 1931, Serial No.

582,735, and in Norway March 30, 1931 7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in vertical index cabinets. y One of the objects of this invention is to produce a vertical index cabinet embodying mechanism whereby the index cardsare independently raised and lowered above a card-dropping element to enable a separation or break in the column or body of index cards by a dropping of a portion of said column over the edge of said dropping element with a consequent exposure of a portion of the face of a card or cards at said break or separation and to cause another portion of said cards to be supported by said dropping element in such manner that by a pulling movement of the drawer the cards are carried along the dropping element until they reach the edge of said element, over which they drop one by one to a lower plane, whereby the addresses of every card will become visible during the dropping operation, and the card or cards wanted may be found quickly and surely without touching the cards with the hands; to provide in a vertical index cabinet including a casing or housing and a drawer slidable inside the casing and having a column or body of index cards disposed vertically in said drawer, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of the casing, in combination with a vertically-movable card-carrier mounted in said drawer and adapted in one position to raise cards to or above the plane of the card-dropping element and in another position to lower a portion of the cards below said plane, and to cause cards in front of the edge of the dropping element to a lower plane and to expose a portion or portions of the face or faces of a card or cards held in elevated position when the carrier mechanism is lowered; to provide a dropping mechanism so arranged in relation to the carrier and dropping mechanism that a pulling movement outwardly of the drawer will cause cards supported thereby to be moved along the same forwardly tothe edge of the dropping element and to drop thereover one by one to a lower plane, thus exposing a portion or yportions of the face or faces of the cards during the dropping movement, whereby names or addresses on each and every one of the cards supported in elevated position by the dropping element will become visible during the dropping operation, and when the cards in the drawer are properly indexed, the card or cards desired by an operator may be found quickly and surely by first moving the drawer to the approximate position of the index card and then operating the carrier to lower the (Cl. 12S-16) same, and thereafter, if necessary, pulling or moving the drawer outwardly to expose successive cards thus enabling the card or cards to be found quickly and surely without touching the cards by hand; to produce a card carrier operable from the front face of the drawer and preferably operable by a handle mounted on the drawer and also serving as the pulling handle for the drawer; to provide a mechanism whereby elevation of the card carirer to it supper position will carry all the cards to a level above the dropping element to permit closing of the drawer; to provide an indicating mechanism preferably mounted on the casing of the cabinet and arranged to indicate or point to the position where the dropping operation will take place, thus enabling a skilled operator by moving the drawer in relation to the indicator to expose a given card or cards by a single cardlowering or dropping movement of the carrier.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, the drawer in the cabinet is provided with a series of slightly inclined partitions adapted to maintain the cards or a series oi groups of cards in proper position to effect an ideal dropping movement of the cards. Another object of my invention is to provide means for causing the dropping of the cards outside the vertical plane of the front of the cabinet and for this purpose the dropping element is made slidable within the casing so that when moved forwardly to its outer position the dropping of the cards will occur or take place a slight distance forwardly of the front of the cabinet casing and in the preferred embodiment of my invention, I preferably provide means for automatically moving a limited distance the slidable dropping element outwardly by the outward movement of the drawer and also preferably provide means for automatically reengaging the drawer with said dropping element at the end of its inward closing movement so as to cause a frictional coupling thereof to enable the limited outward sliding thereof upon the movement of the drawer.

With these and other objects in View, the invention comprises the combination of members and arrangement of parts so combined as to coact and cooperate with each other in the performance of the functions and the accomplishment of the results herein contemplated, and comprises in one of its adaptions the species or preferred form illustrated in the accompany- .ing drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of a vertical cabinet index embodying my invention,

showing the drawer partially opened to expose a series of addresses on a series of successive index cards;

Fig. 2 is a section similar to Fig. 1 showing the cabinet with the drawer in closed position;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1 lool-:ing in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow, the cards being omitted.

Fig. 6 is a section on the'line 6 6 vof Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line -7--7 of Fig. 6 looking in the direction of thearrow;

Referring to these drawings which illustrate preferred embodimentv of my invention, 1 indicates an enclosing casing of the index cabinet within which a drawer 2 is slidably mounted. 3 indicates a dropping element, preferably cornprising a bar mounted to' extend longitudinally in thejoasing and preferably mounted along the median line of the said casing. The dropping' element, or bar 3 is preferably mounted to slide longitudinally in the casing, and as shown; has its front end supported on a ball-bearing#- running on a ground rail 4 and at its rear end said bar or element extends through a stationary strap or hoop Sand is supported thereon by means of an angular strap 5 secured to the rear end thereof and having a horizontal leg 5a overlying the element or bar 3 provided at its rear end witha locking notch 5b and having at its forward end an inclined portion 5cl for lreleasing the latching engagement of the member 5 from the strap or hoop 5 as hereinafter described.

The drawer 2 is open or providedv witha slot 2' at its bottom and the dropping element, as illustrated, extends longitudinally of said slot cr opening. The rear wall 2a of said drawer has a vertical slot 2b through which said dropping element extends so as to permit the sliding ofthe drawer in relation thereto. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, the drawer is also provided with a series of slanting partitions 2c which are similarly provided with registering slots 2d andthe spaces between the partitions are iilled with a series of vertically disposed cards C. Supported by and extending longitudinally within .the drawer is a vertically adjustable or movable card` carrier 10 adapted to raise and lower the cards within the drawer or the compartments thereof. As illustrated, the carrier 10 comprises a pair of longitudinally extending bars 10' mounted to move vertically within the drawer and extending through vertically-extending slots 2e in the rear Wall of the drawer and preferably connected together at the rear and front ends by frame members 10m-10b. y

vAs illustrated, the card carrier 10 is provided at its front and rear corners with hubs or trunnions 10c mounted to slide in inclined slots 11 formed in rail plates V12 mounted at the front and rear of the casing, thus permitting a raising and lowering movement of the carrier 10 to alternately raisev or lower the cards within vthe drawer. l'

Suitable mechanism is provided for operating the carrierlO to raise and lower the carrier, and as illustrated, the carriage is so raised and lowered by operation of a handle 15 extending on the outside of the front Wall of the drawer and comprising a handle member 15 fast to a shaft or hub 13a. mounted in the front wall of the drawer and having connected thereto at the inner side of the drawer a groove pulley 16 having wound thereon and fastened within the groove thereof a rope 15' passing over the pulley 15a and anchored at its opposite end at 15b to the connecting strap 10b of the carrier 10.

On the drawings in Fig. 1, the rdropping element is shown in its foremost position in which positionV it is locked, the strap or hoop 5 being in latching engagement with the notch 5b. When rthe drawer is moved to closed position, the pivot member '7 on the drawer catches between the slanting blade 5c and the spring 7', whereby the dropping element is lifted out of contact with the notch 5b and thereafter rearward movement of the drawer pushes the dropping element into its rearmost position. The frame 10 for the cards, which is provided with hubs or trunnions 10c slidesA on slanting rails 12. By the turning oi the handle 15 the frame and thereby the.

cards are v carried from the bottom to the top plane or vice versa, the power effect of the handie being transmitted to the frame pulley or disk -therewith a rectangular hoop-shaped portion embracing the side of the cabinet drawer and xed to the forward end of the dropping element at 20.`

AS illustrated, the dropping element is proel vided at its forward dropping edge with a series of steps C which in the dropping operation cause addresses on a plurality of cards to be exposed at the saine time, and when the drawer is pulled, the cards resting on the top of the dropping element will successively drop on to each of these steps in its movement to the plane to which the carrier of the cards in front of the dropping element has been moved.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, I claim:-

1. A vertical index cabinet embodying, in combination, a stationary casing, a drawer slidable within said casing, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of said casing, extending through the bottom of the drawer above the plane thereof, and having a substantially horizontal card-supporting surface disposed in elevated position and a card-dropping edge extending downwardly at substantially a right-angle to said elevated card-supporting surface, index cards mounted to move vertically within said drawer, and mechanism for raising and lowering said cards above and below the plane of said dropping element. l

2. A vertical index cabinet embodying, in combination, a stationary casing, a drawer slidable withinV said casing, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of said casing, extending lthrough the bottom of the drawer above the plane thereof, and having a substantially horizontal card-supporting surface disposed in elevated position and a card-dropping edge extending downwardly at substantially a right-angle to said elevated card-supporting surface, index cards mounted to move vertically within said drawer', and a carrier mounted on the drawer and movable vertically in relation thereto to raise and lower the cards above and below the plane of the dropping element.

3. A vertical index cabinet embodying, in combination, a stationary casing, a drawer slidable within said casing, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of said casing, extending through the bottom of the drawer above the plane thereof, and having a substantially horizontal card-supporting surface disposed in elevated position and a carddropping edge extending downwardly at substantially a right-angle to said elevated cardsupporting surface, index cards mounted to move vertically within said drawer, a carrier mounted on the drawer and movable vertically in relation thereto to raise and lower the cards above and below the plane of the dropping element, mechanism mounted on the drawer for raising and lowering the carrier to move vertically above and below the plane of the dropping element, and a manually actuated handle extending through the front wall of the drawer for actuating said raising and lowering mechanism to move the carrier.

4. A vertical index cabinet embodying, in combination, a stationary casing, a drawer slidable within said casing, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of said casing, extending through the bottom of the drawer above the plane thereof, and having a substantially horizontal card-supporting surface disposed in elevated position and a card-dropping edge extending downwardly at substantially a right-angle to said elevated card-supporting surface, index cards mounted to move vertically within said drawer, a carrier mounted on the drawer and movable vertically in relation thereto to raise and lower the cards above and below the plane of the dropping element, mechanism mounted on the drawer for raising and lowering the carrier to move vertically above and below the plane of the dropping element, a handle for the drawer mounted on a shaft within the front wall of the drawer, said shaft having at its inner end an operative connection with said raising and lowering mechanism.

5. A vertical index cabinet embodying, in combination, a stationary casing, a drawer slidable within said casing, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of said casing, extending through the bottom of the drawer above the plane thereof, and having a substantially horizontal card-supporting surface disposed in elevated position and a card-dropping edge extending downwardly at substantially a right-angle to said elevated card-supporting surface, index cards mounted to move vertically and mechanism for raising said cards above and below the plane of said dropping element Within said drawer, said dropping element being adjustably movable longitudinally in relation to the said casing.

6. A vertical index cabinet embodying, in combination, a stationary casing, a drawer slidable within said casing, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of said casing, extending through the bottom of the drawer above the plane thereof, and having a substantially hori- Zontal card-supporting surface disposed in elevated position and a card-dropping edge extending downwardly at substantially a right-angle to said elevated card-supporting surface, index cards mounted to move vertically within said drawer, and mechanism for raising and lowering said cards above and below the plane of said dropping element, said dropping element being slidably mounted within said casing to have a limited movement, means for releasably latching the same in its forward position and means connected with the drawer for releasing the latching engagement during the inward movement of the drawer and frictionally engaging the latching mechanism to move the same forward during the opening movement of the drawer.

7. A vertical index cabinet embodying, in combination, a stationary casing, a drawer slidable within said casing, a card-dropping element mounted in the bottom of said casing, extending through the bottom of the drawer above the plane thereof, and having a substantially horizontal card-supporting surface disposed in elevated position and a card-dropping edge extending downwardly at substantially a right-angle to said elevated card-supporting surface, index cards mounted to move vertically within the drawer, and mechanism for raising said cards above and below the plane of said dropping element, said dropping element being adjustably movable longitudinally in relation to the said casing, and an indicator member movable with said dropping element.

BIRGER AAGAARD. 

